"Why are there so many people here? Moreover, tomorrow's the day of the joint examination, right? My memory isn't failing me, right?"

Su Hao was in a daze.

Liu Ren was, too. After his thought process was stuck for a short while, he finally managed to say something. "It's probably because the standard of the Medical Center in Battle Preparation Village is very high, so they aren't worried about being unable to recover?"

Su Hao couldn't stop himself from going nearer. He pulled a student aside and asked, "What's going on here?"

"What else can it be? Someone went up the arena, gave a few threats, and then they started to fight. They're already at the 18th round."

"Yunhua University Affiliated High School won eight rounds, Yunhua First High won seven, and Xingyuan High School won three… As for us, An City First High…"

As he spoke, he suddenly saw a frontal view of Su Hao's face.

Within a second, his facial expression went through one of dejection, shock, and then agitation.

"S-S-Su… Great God Su, you're finally here!"

He lowered his voice immediately after his cry of shock. "Great God Su, are you able to deal with that guy up there?"

Su Hao looked over.

The sprite on the arena was a Teddy Bear. After tossing a rock the size of a soccer ball up and down, it suddenly hurled the rock at a Little Ground Wolf that had only entered the arena for ten seconds and smashed it off the arena.

The Little Ground Wolf let out a whimper and collapsed.

Its Sprite Trainer ran over to it with a pale face and carried it away. Su Hao took notice of his school uniform—he was from Ping City First High.

The Teddy Bear's Sprite Trainer on the arena was a student from Yunhua University Affiliated High School.

His chin was raised, and he had a very contemptuous look on his face. His eyes swept carefully across everyone in the venue, as well as their sprites. He paused for a moment, then mocked them outright.

"Isn't there even anyone here who can fight?"

"F*ck!"

"#¥@%#!"

"*****!!"

Outside the arena, several students that hadn't accepted defeat hurled insults right back at him.

They were also entirely justified in doing so. Their sprites had also won a few rounds. It was just that they had already exhausted their stamina, which resulted in those who went up the arena later, gaining an advantage over them.

By the time the Sprite Trainer of the Teddy Bear entered the arena, there weren't many in the vicinity who could battle anymore. The two sprites which had carelessly entered the arena were taken care of easily too.

In the arena, the Sprite Trainer from Affiliated High seemed to have lost the battle of insults. He snorted and promptly changed his target of mockery.

"What about Ping City First High and An City First High? Isn't there anyone there who can fight?!"

The students from the two schools had rather awful looks on their faces.

Yet their headcount was the lowest, which caused them to come across as a little disadvantaged outside the arena. Even if they were to win by going at him one by one, they wouldn't be able to regain their pride.

After a soft discussion among the students of Ping City First High, one of them left swiftly. From the look of it, it seemed like they were intending to call for reinforcements.

In the arena, Teddy Bear's Sprite Trainer didn't seem anxious. He crossed his arms and waited patiently.

The students of An City First High also wanted to call for reinforcements, but they spotted Liu Ren's pancake face the moment they turned around.

And… The man next to Liu Ren!

Right away, their hearts settled.

Su Hao noticed that in the arena, the Sprite Trainer from Affiliated High had also looked over. His gaze stayed on Little Fire Crow and Little Charcoal Tortoise for a very long time. For some reason, it felt like he was up to no good.

While holding the angry Liu Ren back, he said, "Let me do it instead."

Then, he brought Little Fire Crow with him and entered the battlefield.

The battlefield here was more authentic than the one in school. Su Hao went up the stairs and arrived at the Sprite Trainer's command tower, which was the height of half a floor in a building. Little Fire Crow flew into the sky above the arena, which was three steps-high.

"Let's begin."

Su Hao noticed that the Sprite Trainer from Affiliated High, who originally had a scornful expression, became serious right away.

"Use Rock Throw!"

Teddy Bear, which was slightly over a meter tall, reached out and made a grabbing motion. Earth-element spiritual force formed a brown rock the size of a basketball, which it hurled out with great force. It whizzed through the air.

Little Fire Crow flapped its wings and was just about to dodge when the opposing Sprite Trainer revealed a triumphant smile, which came from the success of a devious ploy.

"Crush!"

Teddy Bear's paws slammed together.

In mid-air, the brown basketball-sized rock exploded with a boom, the fragments falling toward Little Fire Crow like a rain of rocks.

There was nowhere to dodge anymore!

Just as Little Fire Crow instinctively wanted to use Feather Substitute, it heard a familiar voice coming from behind.

"Use Flaming Claw to take the blow!"

Right away, flames started burning on its claws, forming a gigantic claw of fire that swiped outwards with great momentum. The small, broken bits of rock shooting toward it were crushed. Only a portion of it sputtered toward the surroundings.

With a gigantic claw of fire raised, Little Fire Crow swiftly drew near.

"What!?"

Teddy Bear was clearly the close-quarters combat-style sprite here, wasn't it!?

Caught off-guard, the boy from Affiliated High could only hastily give out a command. "Use Consecutive Punch!"

A yellowish-brown glow enveloped Teddy Bear's fists. It threw out punch after punch, each punch strong and powerful.

However, Little Fire Crow spread its wings and flew behind Teddy Bear. Its claw swiped downward.

Boom!

Its first move, Flaming Claw, made contact with the fist of Teddy Bear, which had turned around hastily. Teddy Bear stumbled backward.

In its second move, Little Fire Crow took advantage of the momentum and went after it. It continued to swipe at it with Flaming Claw. Teddy Bear had already suffered injuries—the yellowish-brown glow around its fists was dimming.

Its third move…

Boom!

The claw of fire landed on its face. The scratched and burned Teddy Bear rolled outward before it finally fell out of the arena.

The Affiliated High student looked as if someone was strangling him by the throat, while the An City First High students were incredibly excited.

However, Su Hao didn't have any intention of staying behind. He merely waved at Liu Ren and then jumped off the command tower. Bringing Little Fire Crow with him, he left without even looking back.

When he walked out of the battle hall doors, Su Hao saw the boy from Affiliated High picking Teddy Bear up in his arms and going over to another boy and lowering his head.

…

"Boss, that person is named Su Hao. He's most likely the strongest one in An City First High."

The tall boy, whom he addressed as Boss, squatted and touched the Flame-Patterned Hound next to him. Then, he shook his head lightly.

"If they are only of this standard, then An City First High isn't of any concern at all.

"Let's go. Looks like all the real experts are being very cautious. No matter how much more conflicts we create, we won't be able to lure them out.

"But since we've sounded out An City First High and some of the students from the other schools, this isn't a wasted trip."

Bringing Flame-Patterned Hound with him, the tall boy left the battle hall.

Quite a few students from Affiliated High also left quietly.

…

Liu Ren quickly caught up with Su Hao, leaving behind Little Charcoal Tortoise, which could only crawl along slowly.

"Old Su, why didn't you let me show them up a little earlier? I think my chances of winning were pretty high too."

Su Hao glanced at him. "He was probably testing the waters for someone else just now."

"Huh?"

Liu Ren's jaw dropped. "Wouldn't you have given yourself… er, given Little Fire Crow away then, I mean."

Had Little Fire Crow been given away?

Not at all.

Its most important skill, Feather Substitute, was still a secret. Even his own schoolmates weren't aware of it.

The same went for Silkworm Baby. Even Liu Ren didn't know just how many trump cards Silkworm Baby had.

Going by the amount of attention that students from the other schools were giving An City First High, Su Hao felt that it was very likely that they didn't even know that he owned two sprites.

When he thought of how Su Hao was the owner of two sprites and how the main unit was even Silkworm God, Liu Ren's heart was immediately put at ease.

Somewhat curious, he asked, "That guy isn't weak. Who is he testing the waters for?"

"The Sprite Trainer of a Flame-Patterned Hound. He's pretty tall," replied Su Hao.

What had caught his attention initially was the Flame-Patterned Hound's extraordinariness. That was why he had paid a little more attention to its Sprite Trainer.

Liu Ren realized who he was talking about the moment he said that.

"That's Huang Ji, one of the strongest students in Affiliated High! So it's him!

"How strong is his Flame-Patterned Hound?"

Liu Ren took out a notebook excitedly.

He replied, "It has a spiritual force limit of 144 points, and its tail has undergone special training. It's skilled at using Flame Spray, Flaming Bite…"

Su Hao quickly committed the information to memory.

This information was actually even more detailed than anyone else's!